In 2020, the whole world learned about the new coronavirus, which WHO has awarded the name COVID-19. It quickly swept the planet, an international pandemic was declared. All countries immediately began to introduce quarantine measures to protect residents and stop the spread of the disease. One of these measures was the control of all arrivals from abroad, especially from countries where the largest number of cases of COVID-19 was recorded. In any case, this state of affairs was established while the frontiers remained open.
Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport did not stand aside, where all the necessary precautions were taken.
Are airport passengers' suspicions confirmed?
In practice, control is effective, but not a single person with suspected coronavirus was found to have it. In January, there were a number of suspicious cases, in particular, a Canadian citizen flying on a Bangkok-Moscow flight was found to have alarming symptoms. After a thorough diagnosis, it was determined that this was a common food poisoning. A similar situation occurred a few days later with a passenger on a Vladivostok-Moscow flight. In this case, the coronavirus was also not confirmed.
In February, another incident occurred at Sheremetyevo. Five passengers of the airport came into contact with an Iranian patient in the transit zone, after which they were immediately hospitalized. However, in this case, the coronavirus was also not confirmed.
How passengers from countries with coronavirus are checked at Russian airports
At the airports of Russia, with the beginning of the mass spread of the coronavirus, a high alert mode was introduced. This is especially true for employees who work in terminals where international flights arrive. They are required to wear masks, gloves and protective suits. All arrivals are required to check on the thermal imager to control their temperature. If it is elevated or any other alarming symptoms are found in the passenger, the airport staff must immediately report this. The passenger will be immediately hospitalized and placed in a two-week quarantine to prevent further spread of the virus.
With particular care, flights that arrive from those countries where the largest number of cases of coronavirus have been registered are checked.
How coronavirus prevention is organized in Sheremetyevo
If we talk about Sheremetyevo as a specific airport, then there you can see the following state of affairs. At the screening stages, no one measures the temperature of tourists who have flown in from other countries and does not issue instructions about the coronavirus or the necessary precautions. Airport employees are mostly working without masks, with the exception of a few shop assistants. A much larger number of ordinary passengers arrive at the airport in medical masks and respirators.
At the airport as a whole, the number of passengers has decreased, frightened by the coronavirus, most people are sitting at home, despite the fact that school holidays begin and good weather is predicted. In terminal F of Sheremetyevo airport, life has come to a standstill, since it is at this terminal that flights from countries where the situation due to the coronavirus is most aggravated arrive. However, since the beginning of the month, only a few flights have stayed there, all the rest have been cancelled. Airport employees working directly in this terminal are on high alert, they bear the greatest responsibility and the greatest risk.
In cases where the plane arrives from countries where no cases of coronavirus have been recorded, there is no total control. Often there is not even a standard temperature check: tourists are allowed in as usual, they do not carry out any additional diagnostics or examinations that are necessary according to the instructions.
Sometimes passengers are asked to fill out special questionnaires, but this does not happen regularly.
Summing up, it can be noted that there is no strict control at Sheremetyevo Airport. Despite the order of Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, many instructions are not followed. Most airport employees go without masks, and not all passengers are checked on thermal imagers. Particular attention is paid exclusively to flights arriving from "problem" countries, as well as to specific people who complain of various ailments.
On the one hand, this state of affairs is not very encouraging, since security measures are not fully observed. But at the same time, there is no panic, unrest among tourists, as well as severe flight delays associated with thorough inspections, so in any situation you need to look for pluses.